


BROKEN GLASS

by Applesgalore



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s05e06 Taking Control (She-Ra), F/F, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29006082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Applesgalore/pseuds/Applesgalore
Summary: SummaryCatra’s post-rescue transition hits some other necessary and rewarding bumps. She also pitches a crazy idea to Adora.NotesI try to fill in some gaps between S05Ep06 and S05Ep07. It picks up where DON’T GO (https://archiveofourown.org/works/24280306) left off, and also presents the core theme of CLOSURE (https://archiveofourown.org/works/24525808) in a different wrapper.  Hope y’all like it.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	BROKEN GLASS

Catra opens her eyes and yawns. The body aches have almost completely disappeared. She is also pleasantly surprised to find her head still resting on Adora's chest. Adora's face is still nestled in her hair too. _Wow. In what universe is this possible?_ Adora's sleepfighting habit should have left them in some kind of crazy jumble, or even on the floor. But not this time. She quickly clasps her hand over the back of her neck. Prime's control chip is really gone, and Adora is really here. It's definitely not the last time she'll check. She smiles and closes her eyes, focusing on Adora's breathing. The world starts to melt away again.

Before she can drift off, Catra's ears perk up to the sound of Glimmer's unmistakable laughter and Bow's excited yammering. They are just down the hall. She feels compelled to go and talk to them. At the same time, a cold fist of doubt begins to squeeze her belly, and her hands start quivering. They were both so welcoming at supper last night. But were they just faking it for Adora's sake? Maybe she should just wait for Adora to wake up. _Come on, get it together_! She replays the mental tape of last night's conversation with Entrapta and takes a few deep breaths. Yes, she can do it. She'll show them that she’s really trying, and she'll do it on her own. The icy feeling in her stomach subsides a little.

Adora hasn't stirred at all. The healing must have totally drained her. Catra gently disentangles herself from Adora. She sits up and brushes Adora's messy hair away from her face and watches her sleep for a few more minutes. _You brave, crazy, beautiful idiot_. _I surrender_. A tear drips off Catra’s chin and falls onto Adora’s chest. Adora squirms and mumbles for an instant, and is still again. Catra pulls the blanket up to Adora's chin and swings her legs off the bed. Glimmer and Bow's voices grow louder as she walks down the hall. They are in the galley.

She walks up to the door, steels herself one last time and asks, "Hey guys, what's happening?" Glimmer and Bow both turn around, grinning. Catra wears a hopeful and nervous smile.

"What’s it look like? We're making breakfast!" Glimmer tells her joyfully.

Catra gives Glimmer a quizzical look. "Ummmm... don't you need Adora to read all those labels for you?”, she asks wryly. “To be honest, I’m kinda scared of what you’re gonna come up with here, Sparkles."

"Well, Adora did me a huge favor and relabeled a bunch of them for me before she... went to bed last night," Glimmer said, her huge grin spreading even wider.

Catra smiles sheepishly and looks at the floor, eyes shining. A wave of warmth courses through her and finally pushes the cold fist away completely.

"I think someone’s feeling a lot better," Bow observes, matching Glimmer’s sly grin.

Catra nods slowly. "Yeah I suppose, all things considered," she murmurs.

"Great! So, do you want to help us out?", Bow ventures enthusiastically, sidling up to her.

_Still a big dummy, to be sure, but he’s starting to grow on me._

"It looks like Mara left us everything we need to make pancakes!" Bow went on. He rifled through some more boxes and started doing a victory dance. "Unbelievable! Look at all this loot! Dehydrated fruit, chocolate sauce... It'll be a Bright Moon breakfast in space! If Glimmer's thousand-year-old buns didn't kill us last night, I think we'll be fine, right?" He laughs.

Catra responds in kind. "OK sure, I'll help," she agrees. "Just give me a job."

"Teamwork!", Glimmer chirps. She hands Catra a big blue box and says, "Could you please take this and measure out about 6 cups for me?"

Catra reaches out to grab the mix and meets Glimmer’s friendly, welcoming eyes. That was all it took to break her stride. Catra freezes like a statue, staring blankly at Glimmer. A sudden avalanche of terrorizing guilt pushes her down to the floor. She shakes uncontrollably, gasping for air. _Who is she kidding? She isn't ready for this. Not in the slightest_.

"Bow, get over here now!", Glimmer orders, quickly sitting down beside Catra and putting an arm over her shoulders. "Catra, you need more rest. It was way too soon. We'll take care of breakfast, don't worry. Come on Bow, help me get her back to her room."

Bow runs over and leans down to help Catra up.

Catra bursts out, "No, no it's not that, I..... Gli-Gli-Glimmer?” She gives Glimmer a desperate look.

Glimmer grabs her hand. “It’s OK, just take your time,” she assures Catra.

Catra takes a few minutes to get her breath back, and asks meekly, “Could I please talk to you alone for a few minutes?"

"Sure," Glimmer says gently, glancing up at Bow.

"No problem," he said, "I'll go to the bridge and see if Entrapta and Wrong Hordak need any help with Darla. I think they're working on a few tweaks to the navigational systems."

Glimmer nods gratefully and pats him on the knee, adding “Don’t break anything, alright.” She turns back to Catra, who panics again and backpedals to the wall.

"This can't be real, this can't be real...," Catra whispers over and over, clawing at the back of her neck. _Where is it?_ "If this were real, you wouldn’t be treating me like this, not after everything I did. Please, please just tell me it's not real!"

Glimmer realizes what’s going on. Her sympathy quickly changes to exasperation. Sighing heavily, she asks, "OK Catra, how’s this? Would it make you happy if I treated you like dirt? Would that make this all seem more real to you? You know that I owe you my life! I also know you're trying hard to change, and I really want to help you! You need to try and believe-"

”But nothing can I could do will be enough”, she protests, cutting Glimmer off. “Look, there's something I wanted to talk to you about when, you know, we were on Prime's ship together. I tried a few times, but I was just too afraid. It felt like broken glass in my throat.” She meets Glimmer's eyes before powering through. "Glimmer, you know that I'm the reason your mom is gone! I don't deserve anything from you but hate, because I'm nothing but a selfish... piece... of garbage! You don't have to pretend anymore, alright?" Catra turns away, sobbing pitifully.

Glimmer looks at the floor for a minute. Tears well up in her eyes. She hesitantly reaches out and puts a hand on Catra's shoulder. She squeezes it gently. Catra stiffens, but doesn’t jerk away.

Glimmer summons her strength. It was time. "Catra, I admit that hated you for a long time. I wanted to make you pay, make you hurt. It was all I thought about. Don't you think I wanted to bring this up on Prime's ship too? I wanted to ask you why. I wanted to know if you truly regretted it. But I didn't. Because that would mean that I'd have to really face up to what I did too... activating the Heart. I almost killed all my friends, everyone on Etheria, and wiped out the whole universe because I was nothing but a stupid, stubborn idiot! And even though the Heart didn't do it, Prime still might. I brought Etheria to him, and I honestly don't know how we're going to stop him. So don't think you somehow own all the guilt here. You were right, you know. When I caught up to you in the Fright Zone…. we really were both alone."

Glimmer feels a little of the tension leave Catra’s shoulders, and continues, “And then you got me off that ship, even when you knew what Prime might do to you. And then I just thought that, you know, maybe enough had been said already.”

"No!” Catra insists. “At least you thought you were trying to help Etheria. But me? I was just being pathetic and cruel. When I threw that switch, all I wanted was for Adora, and everyone else, to hurt as much as I did. I'm so sorry. I know that's nothing. Please just let me know what I have to do. I'm all yours, whatever you need. I promise to do all I can to help stop Prime."

Glimmer squeezes Catra's shoulder again. "OK. We're really glad you're with us. We'll need you. For now, I’ll settle for some help finishing breakfast."

Catra laughs weakly. Glimmer takes her hand and helps her to her feet. Catra starts measuring out the pancake mix.

Adora steps into the doorway, stretching and yawning. "What’s up?", she asks, obviously happy to see Catra making a solo effort to connect.

"Catra and I are whipping up some pancakes for everyone, right Catra?", Glimmer says, patting Catra on the back.

"That's right. Sparkles here wasted no time putting me to work,” Catra beams.

Adora gives them a double thumbs-up. "Great, I'll need the energy for She-Ra practice later on. Gotta keep trying to get her back. If you see me doing it, just pretend I'm not there, OK?" She points her finger at them and says with mock seriousness, "No distractions, you hear me!"

"Yeah, well don't count on it, dork," jokes Catra, sticking her tongue out.

"Well, glad to see the cat came back, 100%!", Adora giggles, putting Catra in a headlock and mussing up her hair, just like she used to do all the time when they were cadets. Adora lets her go and turns to leave the galley.

Catra follows Adora out, telling Glimmer over her shoulder, "I'll be back in a sec to help you."

In the hallway, Adora turns and gives Catra a proud look. "Seems like things are going well. This is kind of like your initiation into the Best Friends Squad, ya know?"

Catra's eyes dart to the floor. She blushes and whispers, "Yeah, sure.” She looks up into Adora’s eyes again. Listen Adora, there's something we need to talk about. And it's going to sound absolutely crazy."

"Oh, try me," Adora says, laughing. She notices Catra's solemn expression and stops. "What is it? What's wrong?" she asks.

Catra lets a breath out slowly. "Look Adora, I know we have to deal with Prime now, but when it's over, there's something I need your help with. Please."

Adora's raises her eyebrows and leans closer, "What?"

"It’s Glimmer's mom, Angella. She's only trapped somewhere, not dead, right?" Catra asks hopefully. "Is there maybe some way we could try and get her back? We’ve got Entrapta, after all. She's a genius. Maybe she could set up another portal machine, and try to open a doorway to where Angella is? Look, I know how this all sounds, but I want to try... for Glimmer."

Adora puts her hands on top of Catra's shoulders, smiling proudly. "Catra, I’m really happy to hear you saying this, but that could really backfire-”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Catra whispers fiercely, her eyes narrowing. Her face softens again. “I’m sorry, Adora. Please just tell me we’ll talk about it."

Adora looks up at the ceiling, considering. She sighs and says, "I'm not saying no. Once we've dealt with Prime, we'll talk to Entrapta. We won’t say anything to Glimmer yet. We'll try and see if we can actually do this right. But no guarantees."

Catra cups Adora's face in her hands, saying, "Thanks, that's enough. I’ve gotta get back and help Glimmer. See you later."

“Bye. Come get me for breakfast, alright?” Adora gives Catra a quick hug and heads down the hall toward the bridge, smiling broadly.

Catra watches Adora go until she disappears around a corner. _We really do stand a chance this time_.


End file.
